Andy Hampsten, 1988 Giro d'Italia Winner
"Wrap your thumbs around your bar. Even some pros just lay their thumbs next to their fingers on top of the bar when they're not racing hard. But accidents seem to happen more often when people are relaxed than during the intense moments of a ride. Use your thumb as a hook, and you have a better chance of maintaining control during stupid accidents."

Chris Baldwin, 2003 & 2005 U.S. National Time-Trial Champion
"When I was 13, my boss at a bike shop told me that when he was racing, his upper body was so relaxed that his lower lip would jiggle with the road vibration. To this day, when I time-trial or climb I relax my face, and my body tends to follow."

Dave Zabriskie, 6-Time U.S. National Time-Trial Champion and 2-Time Tour de France Stage Winner
"Frank McCormack showed me how to dry my clothes. He laid out a dry towel, then he laid the wet clothes on the towel after he washed them. He rolled the towel up, then stepped on it, and finally wrung it as hard as he could. After that, you have to hang your clothes for only a little bit before they're dry."

Kimberly Bruckner, 4-Time U.S. National Champion and 2003 Pan American Time-Trial Gold Medalist
"Always wear gloves. I had a teammate who -never did, and her hands looked like they were 80 years old. If I forget my gloves, I can't start a race until I find an extra pair. It's just my thing."

Christian Vande Velde, 2008 & 2009 Tour de France Top 10 Finisher
"Remember that all the other riders are human. They train, they suffer, they bleed, they cry. I got that advice from my dad--I had the luxury of being the son of a former professional cyclist--when I was a scared and intimidated junior racing against people from California, Florida and New York, and seeing license plates from people 2,000 miles away."

Freddie Rodriguez, 3-Time U.S. National Champion
"Believe. My dad raced in the '50s, and grew up in Colombia, where they used this stuff for energy called panela. It's like brown sugar that's been heated up. He told me I had to use the stuff. It's just brown sugar, but I believed, "This is it," so it really worked. Believe in something and stick with it."